About Us
What We Are
Blackbird Family Yoga was built with the whole family in mind. We offer prenatal yoga classes, yoga with baby, parent-toddler yoga, yoga classes for preschool, school age children and teens, and adult yoga classes (with childcare provided!). Our studio offers a nurturing environment for all ages and stages of childhood, as well as an opportunity for busy parents to take advantage of our classes with childcare and sneak in some time for themselves. Our convenient Middleton Hills location is close to Madison, Cross Plains, Waunakee, Verona, Fitchburg, etc., and offers lots of parking as well as other amenities (grocery store, adjacent spa, coffee shops, restaurants, hair salon, nail salon, etc.).
Who We Are
My name is Amanda, and I love yoga. Possibly more than coffee and chocolate…combined.
Blackbird was born of my own personal love of yoga, and discovery of the joys and benefits it can bring to people of all ages and abilities. I discovered yoga during my son’s first year of life, which was incredibly challenging (as anyone who has ever had a colicky child can attest) for a number of reasons. On one very dark day, a friend invited me to a yoga class, and I was so desperate to get out of the house that I went (in spit-up covered sweats!)…and never looked back.
Through yoga, I have discovered gratitude, contentment, better parenting skills, body acceptance, patience, optimism, and happiness. While most exercise involves some competitive aspect, or is done for the purpose of improving one’s outward appearance, yoga focuses on the individual and is totally non-competitive. Sure, it helps your body get stronger and leaner (and that’s a great side effect!), but the major benefits of yoga are not obvious from the outside. A growing number of adults have already discovered this wonderful mind/body connection with yoga, and I strongly believe it can translate to the lives of our children and teens, and benefit them as well.
The final decision was made for me when I stumbled across some alarming stats that compelled me to act. I was shocked to find that the rate of childhood obesity has tripled over the last 30 years. Conversely, but equally upsetting, 1 out of every 5 young women struggles with an eating disorder, 90% of whom are between the ages of 12 and 25. Clearly our younger generation is out of touch with their bodies, and studies prove that yoga can help. There have been recent studies that credit yoga with overcoming body image problems and eating disorders, which I have experienced firsthand; this is one very personal reason for my wanting to bring yoga into the lives of our children and teens. I believe that yoga can provide the foundation for a healthy and mindful relationship with our bodies.
The Blackbird
Why Blackbird? Well, for starters, the Beatles song “Blackbird” was playing at the exact moment my daughter entered the world and changed my life forever. The lyrics have great meaning for me: “All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise.” This applies to parenthood, obviously, but also to yoga, and more specifically, to opening Blackbird. And then there’s the Native American symbolic meaning attributed to the blackbird; words like creativity, detail, foundation, determination, focus, and awareness are featured prominently in most descriptions of the blackbird. Take these broken wings and learn to fly!
Retail
Blackbird offers the Chakras by Didi yoga clothing line (www.chakrasbydidi.com). We also stock the delicious-smelling Mama body products such as candles, soaps, lotions, scrubs, and lip balms (www.loveyourmama.com). Stop in or call 237-1777 to find out what we have in stock right now!
